Akos Czigany & Julia Nema: The Box Man

The joint exhibition of photographer, Akos Czigany, and ceramic artist, Julia Nema, opens in the Project Room of the Várfok Gallery, Budapest on 16th. September, 2020. The work was previously exhibited in Frankfurt, Veszprém and Miercurea Ciuc.

Although both artists work in vastly different media, photographer, Akos Czigany, and ceramic artist, Julia Nema, are in a constant artistic dialogue. The unique relationship of their visions is immediately obvious to the viewer when looking at their projects, and the connection can also be grasped through the intricate language of the art historian. Though the exhibition, ‘The Box Man’, presents a wide range of artworks made in different media, including photography, relief and installation, the underlying theme of constructivism and abstraction creates a collective connection. All artworks are characterised by a reduced palette of shapes and colours, while simultaneously reconsidering the traditions of geometric art. This approach creates a coherent narrative throughout the exhibition, unifying a wide scale of ideas in the gallery space.

‘The Box Man’ investigates the relationship of two notions different in scale yet almost identical in function: the box and the house. Both of them encompass distinct microcosms: a box can serve as a portable home, holding practical items for us conveniently, while a house can become an important part of our identity as we spend much of our time in it, surrounding ourselves with all that is of personal significance to us. In our house, the atmosphere needs to be defined by comfort and intimacy. Akos Czigany captured the feeling of homeliness in his clean and simple photographic series ‘Homes’, displaying the naked walls of the houses from the exterior exclusively. The images are geometrical yet highly personal and warm, referencing the very essence of human existence.

The same notion of personal closeness can be detected in the reliefs of Julia Nema, who chose to manifest it uniquely by cutting, tearing and bending fine ceramics such as china. All of her intricate works of art, created with incredible precision and craftsmanship, reference the idea of a box, using it as a starting ground for creation. Nema explores a world of contradictions by attempting to resolve the clash between stiff angularity and softness in her abstract compositions.

House and box likewise have interiors and contents – perhaps the most intriguing aspect of them is what they might be hiding. The artworks of Czigany and Nema, however, refuse to reveal their secrets. The photographs, often illuminated through industrial materials, and the ceramics referencing the interiors of a box, are strictly defined by abstraction. In this approach, the box ceases to be a practical object and becomes an intriguing shape on its own.